NWS Advisories, Watches & Warnings…Delivering Critical Information with a Unified Voice. Should There be More Coordination between NWS and Local TV Station Weather Departments?

Abstract: This session is designed to be a panel discussion with NWS and broadcast mets to discuss the challenges communicating all the various advisories issued by WFOs, challenges with WFO inconsistency with advisories across broadcast markets and to discuss new approaches to working together to communicate a unified message when lives are at risk. This session would be great as a JOINT session between 45th Broadcast Conf and Communications Conf.

Panel Moderator: Dave Jones i swilling but would need travel support. Nate Johnson, Cheryl Nelson or Maureen Mcann could also moderate.

Possible Panel Participants:

NWS HQ Rep Louis Uccellini (NWS Dir), Kevin Cooley (NWS Ops), Doug Hilderbrand (WRN Lead),

NWS WFO MIC

NWS WFO WCM

Broadcast Met #1 Large Market

Broadcast Met #2 Medium Market

Broadcast et #3 Small Market

Suggested 5 minute presentations from all participants. Encourage Broadcast mets to show video examples of where NWS had issued watches/advisories and were not used on-air, broadcast mets explaining away NWS advisories, NWS warnings used on-air. Challenges of communicating so many advisories/watches/warnings (not Tornado or SVR T-Storm).

This is not designed to be argumentative but stimulate constructive conversation about how NWS WFOs and broadcast mets can coordinate a unified message when life-threatening weather threatens. Possibly ask question of why does NWS put so much time into developing “TV” graphics? Up to committee to determine key question to address. Attendees should find this session very informative and feel compelled to participate in the conversation. The outcome should be some actions from the broadcast board on ways to improve NWS-Broadcast Met coordination and collaboration for unified messaging. On a personal note, it is concerning that there are many examples of official NWS advisories not being communicated on-air. Some justified and some not. This is not a good direction for the broadcast community to be headed (IMO) and should be addressed with some level of immediacy.